The End?
by Ikonopeiston
Summary: The second and unintended chapter is in response to a request from jgoddessangel. This is for you, kid.Nooj deals with it.
1. Chapter 1

10/20/06

**THE END**

LeBlanc's first thought was that it was extremely kind for whoever was in charge of the FarPlane to arrange that all the flowers be in varying shades of lavender to echo her favourite colour and make her feel at home. Her second thought was that a mirror or two would have been nice. She could run her hands down her swan-like neck but that could not tell her if there were bruises spoiling the ivory flesh or the prints of metal fingers branded into the slender column. What sort of eternity would it be without a mirror?

She was quite sure she was dead. She remembered the feel of Nooj's body against hers as, their lips sealed in a final kiss, he strangled her with his prosthetic hand. It had been ordained almost from the beginning that he would kill her and she was more pleased to die by his hand than she would have been to go on living without his love. Still, this was not exactly how she had imagined the afterlife. For one thing, there seemed to be nobody else around. LeBlanc had lived her life surrounded by people, first on her home island of Kilika then in Guadosalam where servants and Syndicate members kept her company. Logos and Ormi had been particularly amusing companions and she resented what she could not help but notice - that they had not come pelting after her to serve her in this world as well.

The sound of falling water caught her attention at the same time as she became aware that something was dangling from her wrist. So her fan had accompanied her; at least she could protect herself if need be. A closer inspection of the accessory disabused her of that idea. The fan was just a fan, a contraption of folding sticks covered with lace and tapestry. None of the blades or other useful devices was included. She hoped this FarPlane was as safe a place as all that implied. A short distrance away was what appeared to be a wall of water. She strolled in that direction and shortly found herself standing on the edge of a precipice into which great cataracts poured themselves. Startled, she drew back lest she fall into the abyss, then - curious - leaned forward, seeking to find the bottom. A force she could not see prevented her from moving any closer or from tumbling over the brim. So this was a safe place, a place where one was as protected as a child in a nursery school, unable to do damage to whatever sort of body was in use in this existence.

LeBlanc looked around, there seemed to be no chairs, beds, benches or other seating arrangements. So. Here on the FarPlane, she was expected to stand up all the time, not be permitted to explore and required to entertain herself. She was willing to do that last if she only had any idea how to go about it. This was going to be a very long eternity.

She had walked around a bit, now wishing for some sort of variety in the flowers at her feet, trying to decide if one direction of identical landscape seemed preferable to another when she gradually became aware of a human shape at the corner of her eye.

She spun around and confronted a tall man wrapped in a bulky red coat. In spite of the diffused light, he wore dark glasses and his face was otherwise mostly concealed by his high collar although she thought she detected experience and wisdom in the parts she could make out.

"Do I know you?" LeBlanc demanded, tapping her fan against her outthrust hip.

"No. I cannot remember our ever meeting when alive. I am one of the Settlers - In here. My job is to answer questions and help you become familiar with how things are run. Oh, by the way, my name is Auron. And you ..." He looked at some writing on the palm of his hand. "You are called LeBlanc?"

"Auron. I think I've heard that name before. Were you famous when you were alive?"

"Only locally, I think. All people are famous to those who know them well. Now, what can I help you with?" Auron spoke mildly.

"Can you find us somewhere to sit down? I'm tired of standing up. And can you tell me if my neck's bruised? I can't find a mirror or even a pool of still water." She knew she sounded petulant but could not seem to help herself. "And will Logos and Ormi show up anytime soon? I need them to run errands."

The man laughed lightly. "Peace, peace. I'll answer whatever I can, but one at a time please. Here." He made a gesture and a chair, table and sofa appeared, covered with grass green material embroidered with lavender blossoms. "Sit down and be comfortable. No, there are no marks on your throat; injuries don't usually make the transition except in certain special cases. All you need do to get a mirror is make a picture of one in your mind then imagine it real. Try it."

LeBlanc furrowed her brow, trying to see a mirror, then it was there! The small looking glass fell glittering through the misty air and landed at her feet. With a coo of delight, she scooped it up and gurgled at the reflection of her face and neck. "You're right! No bruises. I would have sworn those steel fingers would have left their mark."

"They did, back on Spira. But this is a brand new body with all new parts. None of the wear and tear of the old one. Now, what else did you ask? ... Oh yes, your housemen. No. They're still alive as far as I know. Let me check." He drew a dark green object from his coat pocket and pressed a few buttons. "Yes, still alive. Did you expect them to be dead?"

"No, of course not ... well, yes, I did. I thought ..." Her voice trailed off disconsolatedly.

"Anything else?" Auron kept his amusement hidden.

Supressing a small moue, LeBlanc muttered, "This is not the way I thought the FarPlane would be. I thought I'd meet all the ones I lost over the years, like my parents, and we'd have life pretty much the way it was on Spira. I'm bored, not happy like they said I would be."

"If that's what you want, you can have it without any trouble. You see, each person can design the sort of afterlife he wants. That way everybody's happer. There are certain exceptions of course."

"You keep saying that. What does it mean?"

"Just that certain people are bound by other rules, even here. You don't have to worry; you fit in very nicely with the general regulations. I don't see any problems for you. Now just fill out this form and take it over to the left to that counter and you'll be all set." He smiled kindly and handed her a sheaf of papers clipped together at the top.

"What counter? I don't see anything." She demanded, looking around.

Auron sighed. It was difficult remembering that not all new-comers had been well schooled in the temples when they were at their zenith and, thus, not all knew what to expect once they had crossed over.

"Look carefull to the left. See that red glow over there. That marks an assistance point. If you ever need anything while you're here, look around until you see one of those lights and head for it. One more thing, before I go - those you left behind can come visit you when you have been here long enough to be listed in the register. If you have a guest, you will be called by a small winged Voice which will guide you to the proper spot. Any other questions?"

"How long does it take to get listed? I think I'll have a visitor pretty soon. Probably lots of them. They'll want me to name my killer. And what sort of people fit into the other rules?"

Her mentor raised an eyebrow. "You can't do that. Spiran justice is no longer our concern. Don't bother to try. And the others? Well, suicides for one and homicides for another. You don't have to worry about that. They won't be permitted in your part of here." With that, he turned and walked off to the right, stopping after a hundred feet or so to unhook the flask from his belt and take a hearty slug.

LeBlanc, stunned by the final comment, noticed that the chairs and other furniture had gone along with Auron. With a determined set to her mouth, she closed her eyes, concentrated and called up a desk and matching chair. So they thought they could get away with this, did they? So far as she was concerned, it was just another attempt to come between her and her destined love. She spread out the bundle of papers Auron had given her and carefully examined the specifications. The part which most interested her was the section in which she could designate which still living individuals she would like to include in her eternity. Naturally, she would call for her faithful servants and some few of the Syndicate, just for old times' sake. And there was one other.

By her reasoning, Nooj would be a suicide and thus bound by more rigorous rules than one who died in another way. He was also a homicide; he had killed her. Therefore, he would be restricted in his choices once he had found that death he was so enamoured of. It could not possibly be much longer before he turned up on the FarPlane and got his marching orders. So - with a firm stroke of her pen, she entered his name into the list of those who would be necessary to make her after-life the pleasure it was guaranteed to be. She was certain that with the sins he would carry he would not be able to decline the assignment. At last, she would have her Noojie-Woojie just where she wanted him and this time he would not be able to do a thing about it. She smiled beatifically.

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	2. Chapter 2

11/10/06

**After the End**

Had Nooj known what it would be like after the end, he might have reconsidered his choice of destinies. When he became Taydrcaagan, he had believed it to be the most honourable path he could take. How better to spend his strength and talent than in a selfless devotion to the service of Spira? With no thought wasted on the preservation of his own life, he had found himself free to risk all for his world, to do the dangerous things other men might fear to do and not worry about a non-existent future.

When he had, upon rare occasions, turned his mind to what might follow death it was only to dismiss the common concept of the FarPlane. For himself, heathen that he was, there was only Nothingness once his heart had been stilled. He anticipated neither reward nor punishment; he expected a void, a vacancy, nothingness.

And now this! It was one thing not to be rewarded for those virtuous acts one had performed, quite another to apparently become the reward for another soul.

Shortly after he had fallen to the crushing attack of the Queen Coeurl and had seen the pyreflies stream from his shredded corpse, he had found himself here in this disconcerting world. He assumed since he was here and not aware of having become a fiend that sometime in the brief interval between the end of breathing and the regaining of consciousness, he had been Sent. Well, that made one more thing he had been wrong about.

The place in which he stood looked like an immensely large version of the stuffy bedroom in the Guadosalam chateau. There was even a towering vitrine holding a gargantuan statue of himself just to his right. The heart-shaped jiggling bed spread out like a playing field for giants and the top of the mirror at the dressing table was shrouded in atmospheric mist. Possessed by a sense of resigned horror, he awaited the appearance of a fifty foot tall LeBlanc for whom he would be just a pathetic toy.

With a frantic rush of confusion, he wondered if the soul, once sundered from its physical bounds, was split into wedges of various sizes so that true justice could be meted out universally. Perhaps, somewhere, most of his immortal part was relishing the Nothingness he had anticipated, unaware of what was happening to this small section of his self.

Something was changing. Either he was growing or his surroundings were shrinking. Proportions were becoming closer to normal.

Heralded by the advent of her signature lilac perfume, in a clatter of stiletto heels, LeBlanc swept into view.

"Noojie-Woojie! You're finally here! What took you so long?" She flung herself against him, nearly knocking him over in her enthusiasm.

"Had I know you were waiting, I would have tried to die sooner," he said sardonically but she did not notice his tone. "After the manner of our parting, I did not expect so affectionate a welcome."

She fluttered her fan and stared at him critically. "Oh, they didn't fix your arm and leg. I'll have to do something about that." She scurried over to the desk which had appeared to one side and began scribbling on some papers. "This won't take long, then we can catch up with one another."

Alarmed by the implications of her words, Nooj called out, "Stop! Don't do anything else! You've done enough as it is."

"Don't you want to be normal again?" LeBlanc looked up with a pout nesting on her pale lavender lips. "I want you just the way you were when you finished school, all in one piece and such a manly man."

"All I want is some explanation why I am here in your idea of the FarPlane. I don't believe in it and I certainly don't want to be a part of your fantasy."

She raised an eyebrow and smirked at him serenely. "You still don't get it. This is my world now and since I was your victim in the outer universe, you are mine to do with as I choose here. I could torture you, kill you every hour for the rest of eternity, but - Noojie - I love you so I am going to make your existence here a paradise of pleasure. We will be together all the time, day and night. We will be lovers forever." Her voice rose to a triumphant cry as she tilted her head to the sky and spread her arms in an encompassing gesture.

As a rational man, Nooj had long rejected the concepts other humans used to comfort themselves. He had never believed in an afterlife - neither one which rewarded the virtuous nor one which punished the guilty. To him, all justice was meted out on Spira during the lifetime of the individual. If justice was not done then and there ... well, too bad. The universe was indifferent to the petty concerns of humanity. This had to be a nightmare. He was obviously not dead at all but only trapped in a dream of surpassingly bad taste. He had been on his way to find Paine when he had encountered the Queen Coeurl and it was evident he had been badly injured by the beast, since only a fever dream of gigantic proportions could account for the horrors he was now facing.

"Madam, I beg of you, go away. You are a figment of my imagination and I find this entire scenario entirely offensive. I shall now wake myself and you will be less embarrassed if you go of your own accord rather than wait to be banished by my conscious mind."

LeBlanc giggled delightedly. "Noojie-Woojie, you're so cute when you're lecturing. You used to do it just that way when we were kids. But you have to stop being silly now that we're all grown up and dead. This is it, sweetheart. This is what we have from now on, so face it and be honest with yourself." She stepped behind him, wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him to her. "Isn't it nice we keep our pleasure parts even after we have died?"

Appalled by her comment, he whirled around, nearly toppling as he did so. "Stop that, woman! I am not going to be your paramour no matter what you think."

"Oh, what I think matters a great deal. It's what you want that doesn't. You don't have any choice any longer. Haven't I made that clear? This is my paradise and you are just one of the furnishings. It will be better if you do as I say but if you won't do it willingly, I'll just have to arrange that you lose your free will and obey me in spite of yourself." She looked at him darkly and waved a small thick book which had materialized in her hand. "All the rules are set down here. You can read it if you like."

"N-no. I don't want to read it. I believe you; it seems I have no alternative. So, you have condemned me to an eternity of serving your needs, of fulfilling your fantasies simply because I did you the favour of taking you out of a wretched existence as painlessly as I could?"

"That's about the sum of it. But you shouldn't think of it that way. Rather think of the fact you will have the freedom of my bed and my body forever. There are men who would have done more than kill for that reward."

"I wish you had chosen one of them and let me be." He did not dare say the last words aloud. If she was right and was to be his mistress on this nightmare plane, it would be better not to give her more reason to punish and humiliate him. Forlornly, he gazed across the misty landscape outside the window. This was a bleak future indeed. If he was to keep his sanity, he must make an effort to find someone even more unworthy than himself to torment.

He had never been an optimist and change did not seem possible so late in his existence - or nonexistence. However, he was a man of strong appetites and he thought, reluctantly, if there was no way to escape and this was to be his lot, he might as well find what pleasures he could. It would also be useful to have his original arm and leg back.

After all,, Nooj plotted, it should not take long to show her who held the upper hand. He wondered what would happen if he killed her again here. She had mentioned the possibility and it would give him something to do with his time. Yes, in spite of the difficulties, he might be able to amuse himself. With a feeling of inevitability, he held out his arms to the woman preening before him. "As you say ..."

4


End file.
